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Soulcatcher
Soulcatcher was a member of the Ten Who Were Taken, the ten most powerful servants of the Dominator during the era of the Domination. Soulcatcher was the younger sister of The Lady, though they were not separated by many years. Soulcatcher is also a remarkably powerful sorceress, exceeded only by The Lady at the height of her power, and the buried Dominator. Her most defining feature is that she often speaks in different voices; these are no mere imitated voices or adopted accents, but truly different voices, perhaps belonging to the souls that she has 'caught' over her career. She is described as short, and is also easily identifiable by her traditional garb, tight-fitting black leathers and a black morion to conceal her face. Before the Annals Before Soulcatcher was sent by the Lady to hire the Black Company, she fought many battles against Whisper, who was the most dangerous Rebel general of the Circle of Eighteen. The battles between these two ranged from Rust to Were and even across Plain of Fear. Soulcatcher came to respect Whisper as a brilliant and worthy enemy. The Black Company When the Black Company was in service to the Syndic of Beryl, Soulcatcher arrived aboard her massive imperial flagship, The Dark Wings, serving as a legate from The Lady's Empire. She collaborated with the Black Company to remove the Syndic from his station — permanently — in order to facilitate an imperial takeover which would turn Beryl into just another puppet state of the northern empire. Soulcatcher also agreed to take on the Black Company's commission, bringing them into the service of the Lady. During their time in service to The Lady, Soulcatcher was the sponsor of the Black Company. Its members wore Soulcatcher's emblem — a silver skull with eyes and mouth ablaze on a field of black — and primarily reported to, and received orders from, Soulcatcher herself. The Black Company discovered that the Ten Who Were Taken were taken to almost endless bickering, and that Soulcatcher's principle foe amongst the Taken was the Limper. Repeatedly, Soulcatcher and the Black Company embarrassed the Limper both by winning victories over the Rebel which had long eluded the Limper, and also by dealing him personal injury. During the Battle of Charm Soulcatcher was revealed to be a traitor against the Lady and the northern empire. Lady initially thought that Soulcatcher was working to advance the cause of the Dominator, but later determined that Soulcatcher was playing her own game, hoping to usurp both Dominator and Lady and rule the empire in their stead. The Lady took Croaker with her in a frantic pursuit of Soulcatcher through the lines of battle, and Croaker managed to shoot Soulcatcher with an ensorcelled arrow before decapitating her head with a sword stroke. Shadow Games Thought dead for years, Soulcatcher re-emerged during the Black Company's long trek south following the disaster in the Barrowland. Initially, planted a spy amidst the Company's ranks, an imp called Frogface whom she contrived for One-Eye to acquire. With her spy in place, she stalked Croaker in particular often reminding him of a walking stump when he would occasionally glimpse her from afar. Using endless murders of crows as spies, Soulcatcher followed the Black Company all the way south of Taglios before finally striking against Croaker and Lady during the assault on Dejagore. She struck Croaker down with an arrow that pierced his heavy armor, and then abducted him and snuck him away from the battlefield. Dreams of Steel In Soulcatcher's custody, Croaker learned that her plan was to force him to surgically re-attach her severed head to her body, which was still very much alive and vital due to the enduring power of her sorcery. With her head regained, Soulcatcher regained her full measure of power, and began to enact her true plan. She began a long campaign to seduce Croaker, trying to force him to betray his love for Lady. In addition, she acted as a wild card in the ongoing conflict between Taglios and the Shadowmasters. In an effort to keep the siege of Dejagore from ending in a decisive victory for the Shadowmasters, Soulcatcher and Croaker appeared as the Lifetaker and Widowmaker characters devised by Lady and Soulcatcher used her sorcerous powers to drastically tip the tide of battle against the Shadowmaster armies as they made their first real effort to seize Dejagore. Next, Soulcatcher dragged Croaker — now under sorcerous glamour to appear as the man Ram — to the city of Taglios proper. There, she impersonated her sister and began to worm her way into the confidences of the Prahbrindrah Drah. However, before Soulcatcher could complete her nefarious plans, she was kidnapped by the Howler under the orders of Longshadow, both of whom had mistaken Soulcatcher for Lady. Howler escaped Taglios and took Soulcatcher to Overlook, but Soulcatcher used her magic to easily escape from Longshadow's custody. She immediately began her hunt for Croaker once again. Gallery Soulcatcher by Keith Berdak.jpg|Soulcatcher by Keith Berdak Soulcatcher and Lady by Mr Stripesprite.jpg|Soulcatcher and Lady by Mr Stripesprite Soulcatcher by Mikey Patch (Irontree).jpg|Soulcatcher by Mikey Patch (Irontree) Soulcatcher by Виталий Стрелец.jpg|Soulcatcher by Виталий Стрелец Soulcatcher's Morion by Виталий Стрелец.jpg|Soulcatcher's Morion by Виталий Стрелец Category:Characters Category:Ten Who Were Taken Category:Wizards Category:Villains Category:Protectorate